Deuteronomy 30:15-20 (NRSV)
Read Deuteronomy 30:15-20 on biblegateway.com
Verse 15See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity. Verse 16If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the Lord your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess. Verse 17But if your heart turns away and you do not hear, but are led astray to bow down to other gods and serve them, Verse 18I declare to you today that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. Verse 19I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, Verse 20loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may live in the land that the Lord swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
Devotion
Choose life is one of those phrases for how we address suffering that is heard very differently by different people. It can be heard as a rallying cry of encouragement in tough times or, conversely, as a deadening weight: "Choose life," mutters the man whose head pounds from migraines. "Choose life," mumbles the woman whose stomach is twisted in anxiety. "Choose life" groans the cancer patient.
"Choose life." A phrase so simple can so easily be twisted. Life, of course, is not so simple. And yet the God of Abraham, Isaac and Ruth knows this. The "choose life" that Moses here speaks to the Israelites is not a call to a simple choice between a happy life and a hard one. It never was. It is a choice between that which truly gives life—the love, purpose, vision and hope of God—and a life which will, ultimately, bow to death.
Prayer
God, if today turns out to be one of those days that feels like surviving life is hard enough, show me that there is still a way to choose life even in the midst of pain. Amen.